Temporary transfer of persons in custody for purposes of identification or for obtaining testimony or other forms of assistance - national procedures for ICC proceedings

Republic of South Africa

Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Act No. 27 of 2002)

Chapter 4
Cooperation with and assistence to Court in or outside South Africa

Part 2
Judicial assistance to court (ss 14-32)

14 Areas of cooperation and judicial assistance

The relevant competent authorities in the Republic must, subject to the domestic law of the Republic and the Statute, cooperate with, and render assistance to, the Court in relation to investigations and prosecutions in the following areas:

(f) the temporary transfer of persons in custody for purposes of identification or for obtaining testimony or other assistance

Chapter 4
Cooperation with and assistence to Court in or outside South Africa

Part 2
Judicial assistance to court (ss 14-32)

20 Transfer of prisoner to give evidence or to assist in investigations

Despite any other law-

(a) where the Central Authority receives a request from the Court or the Prosecutor of the Court for the transfer of a prisoner in the Republic into the custody of the Court, for the purpose of giving evidence or assisting in an investigation, the Central Authority must transmit the request to the Cabinet member responsible for correctional services;

(b) if the prisoner consents to the transfer, the Commissioner of Correctional Services or any person authorised thereto by him or her in writing may issue the prescribed warrant for the transfer of the prisoner, into the custody of the Court in accordance with the arrangements made by the Cabinet member responsible for correctional services with the Registrar or the Prosecutor of the Court;

(c) any period of imprisonment served in the custody of the Court, by a prisoner transferred under this section, must be regarded as a period of imprisonment served in the Republic for purposes of calculating the remaining term of imprisonment of that person; and

(d) the Commissioner of Correctional Services must, where it appears that the term of imprisonment of the transferred prisoner will expire while that prisoner is still in the custody of the Court, in writing inform the Registrar of the date on which that term of imprisonment will expire.

Rome Statute

Article 93 Other forms of cooperation

1. States Parties shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Part and under procedures of national law, comply with requests by the Court to provide the following assistance in relation to investigations or prosecutions:

(f) The temporary transfer of persons as provided in paragraph 7;

7.

(a) The Court may request the temporary transfer of a person in custody for purposes of identification or for obtaining testimony or other assistance. The person may be transferred if the following conditions are fulfilled:

(i) The person freely gives his or her informed consent to the transfer; and

(ii) The requested State agrees to the transfer, subject to such conditions as that State and the Court may agree.

(b) The person being transferred shall remain in custody. When the purposes of the transfer have been fulfilled, the Court shall return the person without delay to the requested State.